HARRY R. CARTER, Ph.D., MIFireE

There are thousands of people across the United States who labor daily in the trenches of municipal fire protection and suppression. They have dedicated their lives to protecting the citizens of our country, and many have given their lives in that pursuit. There are some that ply their craft in the small communities that dot the landscape from sea to shining sea and there are others who work in the major cities that serve as the central hubs of our great nation. They are well known to their peers, but many are unknown outside of their own communities.

I was in Chicago recently with Steve Austin, my good friend and brother firefighter from Delaware, to assist in the launching of a new website dedicated to safety, www.ResponderSafety.com. Our tour guide for this gathering in the Windy City was none other than that hero of the America Fire Service, Chief John Eversole, Chicago Fire Department. I always look forward to my trips to Chicago, because you never know exactly where John will take you on one of his famous tours of the city.

Mayor Richard Daley should make John his special assistant for tourism in Chicago. I don’t believe that much has escaped John’s attention as it applies to Chicago. While maneuvering his car through the streets of the city, he is a constant source of information about where the city is going (upward) and how soon it will get there. When John’s talking about Chicago there is a smile on his face from ear to ear. He loves the people and the city.

While in John’s tender care, I have feasted in a wide variety of ethnic restaurants and have visited almost every part of that wonderful city. In each restaurant, John and his party are greeted with warm smiles and hearty handshakes.

At every fire station we visit he is greeted like visiting royalty. While John is off in some other part of the station, the people with whom we are visiting have their favorite "Eversole Story". Each story is told with the admiration, warmth and tenderness of a son or a daughter relating a story about a father or grandfather who has made a lasting impression on their lives.

John is currently rebounding from a very serious health problem. Attacking his illness with the same vigor demonstrated in his many battles for the troops that staff the cities numerous fire stations. I recently learned that he would be leaving the department for a well-earned retirement in August. Hopefully he will poke his head through the door every so often, just to keep the troops on their toes.

After we kicked off the ResponderSafety website in the state office building, on Wednesday, Chief Eversole asked if we would like to visit the city’s state-of-the-art 911 Communications Center. After securing the necessary permissions, we traveled to this impressive facility at 1400 Madison Avenue, on the west side of the city.

Here is where, yet another opportunity of a lifetime was dropped into my lap. I was able to meet another American fire hero, Victor Stich, Fire Operations Manager for the Chicago 9-1-1 Center. He is the man charged with ensuring that Chicago Fire and EMS personnel are properly dispatched and that their wants and needs on the streets are received and relayed to all the right places.

It was late in the afternoon, and it was obvious that we were not the first group he had led on a tour through the building that day. However, you could see the pride well up inside him and he proceeded to give us the grand tour of this state-of-the-art facility. I seized the opportunity to interview him during the tour.

Rarely have I met such an extremely knowledgeable and dedicated member of the communication world. While speaking with him I learned that he started out as a member of the fire department’s communication system back in the 1970’s. He then transferred to the city’s Department of Emergency Communications, when it was created in 1997. His knowledge of the city, its neighborhoods, and its complex array of communications systems are encyclopedic.

He started when the system consisted of box alarms that were received and retransmitted by the communication’s operators, the bells rang and the fire engines rolled. His career has literally spanned the years of communication breakthroughs used in modern Fire and EMS dispatch.

He was a part of the group that implemented the computer aided dispatch system used in Chicago today. This is the most modern dispatch system that these eyes have ever seen. It was fascinating to watch as the apparatus responded across the screen to the location of an alarm. The combination of extensive mapping and the accuracy of global positioning allow for close monitoring of fire and EMS operations, from the moment of dispatch, to the return to quarters.

The database for this system is no doubt extensive and well maintained. Every building in the city is loaded in this database. The records are updated on a quarterly basis to compensate for the tremendous growth that rages through every area of this 226 square mile metropolis.

Victor Stich’s great contribution to this technology has impacted the Chicago Fire Department. Greater still is his deep and abiding concern for the people who staff the system. "We are a family," he said during our interview. "I have to take good care of my people, they are the lifeblood of our operation. I am proud of the people, and want to be sure they have the best possible tools to do their job"

Like John Eversole, Victor Stich is also an ardent supporter of the City of Chicago. "This is a vibrant and growing community," he said. "People are moving into the city, and the city is responding to their needs for a wide variety of important services. I am glad just to be a small part of the city."

I would like to tell Fire Commissioner James Joyce just what a fine fire department he has. I continue to be impressed with each aspect of the operation that I have seen and I look forward to returning to see the things I have missed.

It is people like John Eversole and Victor Stich that make the system work along with the other 5,000 people who are the Chicago Fire Department. John Eversole and Victor Stich have set an example for all us in the way they care for their troops. If their example were followed, some of the internal problems of the fire service might cease to exist.

This is but one story among thousands. In the coming months as I travel around the country I will be visiting other cities and towns, some large, some small. Each one with it’s own story to tell. I will try to bring you close to the emergency services people in these places. I think that one of the first things you will notice is that we are all not that much different.

The commentary in this column does not necessarily reflect those of Firehouse.Com, Firehouse Magazine, their employees or parent company Cygnus Business Media. Harry R. Carter, Ph.D., MIFireE, is an internationally known municipal fire protection consultant and contributing editor to Firehouse Magazine. He recently retired as a Battalion Commander with the Newark, New Jersey Fire Department. His commentary appears regularly on Firehouse.Com. For more commentary and information, visit Carter's web site at www.harrycarter.com Harry has published several books available for online ordering, including Firefighting Strategy and Tactics and Management in the Fire Service